The Central Bank of Sri Lanka says that due to the import restrictions aimed at strengthening the Sri Lankan economy, the country has been able to save US$ 3.3 billion in the first 10 months of this year.
The Director General of the Economic Research Department of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka, Dr. C. Amarasekera, said that the restriction on imports as well as the reduction in world oil prices has had a direct impact on this and that it is a huge boost to the Sri Lankan economy and provides an opportunity to repay loans without any additional pressure.
He pointed out that the cost of imports in Sri Lanka had fallen sharply in the first 10 months of this year compared to the same period last year.
He said the cost of imports which was US $ 16.6 billion during the first 10 months last year had fallen to US $ 13.3 billion this year, saving the country a whopping US $ 3.3 billion.
The Director pointed out that US $ 2.1 billion had been spent on petroleum imports in the first ten months of this year and US $ 3.9 billion had been spent on petroleum imports in 2019 first ten months. In 2018, for the same period US $ 4.2 billion had been spent on petroleum imports.
A study has been done on the impact of import restrictions on imports from foreign countries and it has been found that the impact of import restrictions is minimal.
He said that the Government has imposed more restrictions on non-essential goods, especially on imports of cars and agricultural products and that the government wants to increase the country’s domestic production.
